I am a Tombstone Tourist: someone who loves to wander cemeteries. I find it akin to visiting a museum: an opportunity to enjoy rarely seen sculpture, intricate carvings, and amazing architecture, all in a tranquil outdoor setting. This blog is about cemetery culture, art, history, issues of death, and genealogy - subjects of current relevance. I usually find something that intrigues me and makes me want to dig deeper. Care to join me? Read on...

Friday, August 16, 2013

The Stone Markers of the Cemetery

Stonecutter in Stone

Stonecutting,
or stonemasonry, has existed for thousands of years. From cathedrals and cities
to monuments and gravestones, carvers have worked to shape something of beauty
from the stone around them.

Stonehenge

Taj Mahal

Some
of the most famous stonemasonry includes the Egyptian Pyramids, the Taj Mahal,
the Easter Island statues, and Stonehenge.

In
the US, Vermont is known for its granite quarries and the work of its carvers
can be seen in cemeteries throughout the state.

Rock of Ages Quarry

Such
examples exist in Barre, Vermont, known as the “Granite Capital of the World,”
and home to Rock of Ages Quarry, the largest deep hole granite quarry in the
world.

Hope Cemetery Granite Stone

Granite Bi-Plane

Hope Cemetery in Barre is filled with over 10,000 tombstones and memorials, most
carved from local Barre Grey granite.

19th Century Stone Carvers

Stone Masons

By the close of the 19th Century, skilled
sculptures from around the world were coming to the US to become a part of the
growing stonemasonry industry.

Although
gravestones can be crafted from just about any material, there are three types
of natural rock that can be carved and used for markers - igneous rock,
metamorphic rock, and sedimentary rock.

Granite

Granite is an igneous
intrusive rock consisting of mica, quartz and feldspar, usually ranging
from pink to grey in color. It is a hard stone and one of the most difficult to
carve requiring skill to sculpt by hand.

Alexander MacDonald

Kensal Green Cemetery

Alexander
MacDonald of Aberdeen, Scotland carved the first polished granite tombstone
using his invention of steam-powered cutting and dressing tools.The stone was erected at Kensal Green Cemetery
near London, England in 1833.

Queen Victoria & Prince Albert

Royal Mausoleum

During
the next 50 years, MacDonald perfected his carving techniques on granite. The
most prestigious granite monument was the Royal Mausoleum in England, located on
the grounds of Frogmore, where Queen Victoria and Prince Albert are buried.
MacDonald’s techniques were later discarded when better machinery became
available in the 1880s.

Metamorphic Rocks

Metamorphic rocks make up a large part of the earth’s surface and
include marble, slate and quartzite. Gravestones are usually fashioned from
marble and slate.

Marble is a recrystallized form of
limestone and

Carrera Quary

Block of Marble

is easy to carve. Marble can range in color from blue/black to
white depending on what part of the world it comes from. Italy is known for its
Carrera marble- a white or bluish gray color. Sweden produces a green marble,
while Tuscan marble can range from red to yellow with violet in it. Pure white
marble can be found in Greece and near Marble, Colorado in the US.

Marble Soldier

Older Marble

Marble
monuments and gravestones became popular during the early part of the 19th
Century. Unfortunately, acid rain can cause damage to the stones over time,
making the inscriptions difficult to read.

Slate

Slate is the finest grained metamorphic rock. Although
very strong, it has a tendency to split. Slate is usually gray in color, but
can also be purple, green or a combination of the two.

Slate Gravestone

Slate
was commonly used for monuments and gravestones, and when carved carefully a
slate marker can have very sharp details.

Slate Quarry

Slate
quarries could be found in the US in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Vermont and New
York, sometimes referred to as Slate Valley.

St Peter's Cathedral

Sedimentary Quarry

Sedimentary stone can be limestone or sandstone. Most of the
world’s most famous buildings have been built with these rocks including St Peter’s Cathedral, and the Roman Arena in Italy, the cliff dwellings in Colorado, and practically the
entire town of Hot Springs, South Dakota.

Indiana

Limestone comes from all over the world, but Lawrence County
Indiana is known as having the highest quality quarried limestone in the US.

National Cathedral

Indiana
limestone was also used for bridges, statues, memorials and buildings, most
notably the Empire State Building, the National Cathedral, Biltmore Estates and
the United States Holocaust Museum.

Older Limestone Marker

Older Limestone Grave Marker

During
the 19th and 20th centuries, limestone

monuments,
mausoleums and gravestones were very popular, but after the discovery of the
effect of acid rain on the stone, limestone is not used nearly as much.

Limestone Marker for a Carver

WW I Soldier in Limestone

For
some excellent examples of limestone grave markers a visit to Green Hill
Cemetery in Bedford Indiana is in order. Hundreds of carvings, statues,
sculptures and engravings exist in minute detail, thanks to limestone’s ability
to weather well

Federal Reserve Bank in Sandstone

Sandstone Quarry

Sandstone can also be found worldwide, usually around bodies
of water or desert areas with sand. Composed of sand-sized minerals and rock
grains, it has been used to build palaces and buildings; Ohio sandstone was
used in the construction of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Sandstone Grave Marker

Sandstone
is resistive to the elements but easy to carve making it a favorite of carvers for gravestones during the
17th to 19th Centuries.

Lettered Fieldstone

Fieldstone with Initials and Date

Fieldstone is just that, stone found in a nearby field or
woods that is used to mark a grave. These were some of our earliest grave
markers. In later times, those who could not afford to purchase a
gravestone used fieldstone. Many times the deceased’s name and date of death
was carved into the rock, but due to the elements and time, most inscriptions
are difficult to red, if they remain at all.

Stone markers are just another reason wandering through a cemetery can be such an adventure, and a delight. Especially when you hope to "leave no stone unturned."

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